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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197563">In Any Other World</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JodiMarie2910/pseuds/JodiMarie2910'>JodiMarie2910</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hana Yori Dango &amp; Related Fandoms, Hana Yori Dango | Boys Over Flowers (Anime &amp; Manga), Hana Yori Dango | Boys Over Flowers (Japan TV 2005), 꽃보다 남자 | Boys Over Flowers (Korea TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Inspired by A Cinderella Story (2005), Inspired by She's All That, Inspired by The Breakfast Club (1985), Inspired by To All The Boys I've Loved Before, One Shot Collection, One True Pairing, Teen Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:29:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,939</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JodiMarie2910/pseuds/JodiMarie2910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If Ga Eul and Yi Jeong were in [insert famous American teen movie], this would be them...Or, four one-shots based on some of my favorite high school films.</p><p>"And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you." - Kiersten White</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chu Ga Eul &amp; So Yi Jung, Chu Ga Eul/So Yi Jung</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to do something fun in homage to the high school movies I grew up with. Each of these chapters is a one-shot based off of a famous American teen movie but featuring YJ &amp; GE.</p><p>There are four one-shots in total, and I will post a new one each Thursday for the next few weeks.</p><p>This first chapter is based on The Breakfast Club.</p><p>One Sentence Synopsis of the Movie: Five high school students from totally different social spheres spend an all day Saturday detention learning they're not so different from each other after all.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's just after seven in the morning, and Ga Eul is freaking out.</p><p>She's never gotten detention before; this is going on her school record!</p><p>Agh, how does she get into these situations recently?!</p><p>She shifts on the uncomfortable chair in the empty school library, wishing for the hundredth time that she was still in her warm bed. It's Saturday, for goodness sake! What type of assistant principal wants to be here all day on a Saturday, anyway?</p><p>She would use this as an opportunity to work on her assignments for the next week, but the principal has already told her she will be writing an essay solely for him as part of her punishment for...well...she doesn't want to think about it.</p><p>It's her first detention <em>ever</em>—normally, she's the ideal student—and she's the first person to arrive. She should probably be getting a head start before other people come in and she gets distracted, but as she stares at her paper, her head draws a complete blank.</p><p>The door opens, and another student steps into the room.</p><p>So Yi Jeong. A member of the school's royal court.</p><p>Fashionably late, as always.</p><p>Ga Eul rolls her eyes and looks back down at her paper, not bothering to greet him.</p><p><em>He's</em> the reason she's in here instead of sleeping, and she's too tired and pissed off to feign politeness.</p><p>So much for her perfect disciplinary record.</p><p>"Are we the only two people here?" he asks. "Ah, well, at least they were considerate enough to give us a private detention." In the corner of her vision, she sees him pull out the chair next to her at the long wooden desk she's occupying and drop languidly into the seat. If he thinks she's going to keep him entertained, he can forget it. "I'm still not sure what they expect to accomplish," he continues in a lazy tone of unconcern. "My father will be talking to the <em>real</em> principal; I'm sure he'll have my record expunged. Yours, too, of course."</p><p>"Oh, how magnanimous of you," Ga Eul drawls sarcastically as she writes her name at the top of her paper.</p><p>She might as well get this over with.</p><p>She manages to write a few vague opening statements. They're supposed to be writing about 'who you think you are.' Ga Eul doesn't know if that means 'what are your aspirations for the future?' or 'who the <em>hell</em> do you think you <em>are</em>?'</p><p>She's going to focus on the former, while also sneaking in a cleverly worded apology for her actions, followed by supporting evidence that shows such actions are not in any way indicative of her overall character and should, quite frankly, be disregarded in the grand scheme of her legacy as a student here.</p><p>A few beeping noises interrupt her essay pre-planning.</p><p>She glances over.</p><p>Is he playing <em>video games</em>?</p><p>"You know, we're supposed to be writing an essay."</p><p>"Yep. Got it."</p><p>"O...kay." Ga Eul sighs and returns to her work. If he wants to get caught by the principal and receive an extra day of detention, let him. She'll be sleeping peacefully.</p><p>A few minutes go by.</p><p>Ga Eul completes an adequate two paragraphs and is beginning her third when Yi Jeong curses and drops his handheld console onto the desk.</p><p>She guesses he lost whatever game he was playing.</p><p>She feels a tap on her shoulder, and when she looks up, Yi Jeong is facing her with his whole body, leaning towards her, and grinning.</p><p>"Hey, wanna go make out in that closet over there?" He gestures to the library storage closet.</p><p>Has he lost his freaking mind?</p><p>She's probably lost hers.</p><p>"I thought So Yi Jeong doesn't make out in closets," she says, turning away and continuing to write. "I thought So Yi Jeong likes to make out in the hallway in front of the teacher's lounge so that any teacher coming in and out has a front row ticket."</p><p>PDA with So Yi Jeong. <em>That's </em>why she's here, ladies and gentlemen.</p><p>She wants to bang her head on her desk like there's no tomorrow.</p><p>"You're still mad at me?"</p><p>"Of course, I'm mad at you. You don't have to worry about college admissions. You don't have to pay for college. Technically, you don't even have to go to college. Or go to school period, except where you're required to by law. Though I'm sure you could find a loophole even for that. What do you care if you got stupid detention? This actually affects me, you know." Reaching over, she raps her pencil on his knuckles. "I'm not supposed to be here."</p><p>"Ow. Hey, don't try to act like you weren't doing anything. I wasn't kissing all by myself."</p><p>"But <em>you</em>"—Ga Eul raps his hand again with her pencil—"started it."</p><p>"And you finished it."</p><p>"Well, what was I supposed to do? 'Oh god, it's my boyfriend. Ew, get off of me.' Fine, I'll just push you into a locker next time."</p><p>"<em>Ga Eul-yang</em>."</p><p>"Not like that! I meant...push you <em>away</em>."</p><p>"Fine, fine." He lays a hand on her knee, though it seems to be an act of supplication rather than seduction as it normally is. "I'm sorry," he says. "I promise not to kiss you in front of the teachers again."</p><p>'Wow,' Ga Eul mouths.</p><p>"But that's gonna be hard because probably one day I'll end up kissing you in front of your mom, and she's a teacher, so..."</p><p>What?</p><p>What the heck does that mean?</p><p>When would they...or how long would they be together that they would do <em>that</em>?</p><p>"Anyway, please forgive me. I really don't want to spend all day in here not talking to you."</p><p>Ga Eul studies him.</p><p>His typical mischievous smile is gone, replaced by a genuine look of remorse.</p><p>And damn it, his smile might be mesmerizing, but his wounded puppy look is equally horrible when it comes to making her knees—and her heart—weaken.</p><p>Ugh, fine.</p><p>Ga Eul sighs exaggeratedly.</p><p>"Okay, I forgive you. But only because it's awkward sitting here if we don't talk to each other."</p><p>Yi Jeong grins.</p><p>"See? This is why I like you. You're so smart."</p><p>"I'm not smart," she says, craning her neck over her paper. "I'm with you."</p><p>The paragraphs are gibberish now. What is the point of this essay?</p><p>"Ah, but...now that you've forgiven me, don't you want to make up in that closet over there?"</p><p>Ga Eul looks up at him with exasperation.</p><p>He really doesn't learn, does he? Either that or, again, he's so entitled he doesn't care. She should probably give him the silent treatment the rest of the morning just for making that remark, but a small part of her is bored out of her mind and also wants to make out with her boyfriend rather than write this stupid essay.</p><p>Maybe he's right; she is a bit of a hypocrite.</p><p>Still, if she's going to do this, she needs to nitpick about something, so she chooses the flashiest option available to her at the moment.</p><p>"Only if you take that ridiculous diamond out of your ear," she comments. "Do you really need that? You're not a player anymore, you know?"</p><p>Yi Jeong gives her a curious look, probably because she's never mentioned his earring before, but without argument, he reaches up and takes it out of his ear.</p><p>He takes her hand and drops the sparkling accessory into her open palm.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*For those unfamiliar with the acronym, "PDA" means "Public Display of Affection." In this case, kissing on school property.</p><p>Hint for next week's episode: "You can't lose it, okay? That's my favorite scrunchie."</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is based on To All the Boys I Loved Before. I didn't 'grow up' with this movie, but it was too darn cute not to include it.</p><p>One Sentence Synopsis of the Movie: Hopeless romantic Lara Jean has never dated, but all that changes when her little sister mails her secret love letters to the five boys she's had crushes on over the years.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ga Eul shouldn't be this excited over a group of egocentric rich boys who wouldn't look her in the eye if they were paid to do it. Money means nothing to them anyway. They have so much of it.</p><p>Still, she joins the gaggle of girls at the front of the adoring crowd, jolting when someone screams in her ear.</p><p>Because while she won't lose <em>her</em> voice over her hopeless crush, she can't resist having a front row view of him when he enters the school with the rest of his entourage.</p><p>So Yi Jeong. Potter, playboy...perfection in a three piece suit.</p><p>Because why would someone with such flawless fashion sense wear something as mundane as a school uniform?</p><p>Not that he wouldn't also make a school uniform look positively sinful.</p><p>He strolls in with his three friends, hands in his pockets and a generous smile on his face, though as usual he doesn't smile at anyone in particular.</p><p>Just soaks up the attention like a cat soaking up sun.</p><p>Until his gaze lands on her.</p><p>Deviating a bit from the path of his friends, he walks right up to her and stops.</p><p>She's a deer caught in headlights. His eyes are still on her own.</p><p>"Chu Ga Eul, right?"</p><p>She nods.</p><p>How does he know her name?</p><p>Oh god, he knows her <em>name</em>.</p><p>"Thank you, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."</p><p>Decline?</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"I have a few rules when it comes to girls. I don't date foolish girls or innocent girls...or girls that write me letters." He cracks an amused smile.</p><p>Did he just call her stupid?</p><p>Does she care?</p><p>He's freakin' talking to her!</p><p>Letters? Huh?</p><p>"<em>What</em>?" she repeats. That seems to be the only word she can remember.</p><p>"You wrote this, right?" Yi Jeong proffers an envelope from the inside pocket of his dark gray suit jacket. He holds it up for her—for everyone—to see.</p><p>How the heck does he have her super secret letter confessing her undying adoration for him?</p><p>Brain...cannot...compute…</p><p>"But since it was such a nice letter, I'll give you something for your trouble," he continues.</p><p>Ga Eul doesn't have time to react to that statement, to seeing her secret confession letter in her crush's hands, to <em>any of it</em> before he sweeps her into his arms and kisses her.</p><p>On the mouth.</p><p>In front of everyone.</p><p>The kiss only lasts a second.</p><p>He lets her go with a wink and moves on, trailing behind his friends. Nonplussed like it's just a normal Tuesday.</p><p>All the other girls are glaring at her now.</p><p>Ga Eul should probably care about that, but all she can do is touch her lips in shock.</p><p>The only person who knows about her letter, who knows where she keeps it—or, she thinks with a grimace, <em>kept</em> it—is Geum Jan Di. Her supposed best friend.</p><p>Jan Di's gonna <em>die</em>.</p><p><em>After</em> Ga Eul goes to the bathroom, locks herself in a stall, and replays that kiss a billion times.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hint for next week's episode: "Is that true? Am I a bet? Am I a bet? Am I a fucking bet?!"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is based on She's All That.</p><p>One Sentence Synopsis of the Movie: A popular male student makes a bet with his friends that he can transform an unpopular female student into prom queen material by dating her for six weeks.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Yo, we've got a problem with Jun Pyo." Woo Bin lets the door bang shut as he enters the F4 lounge, though he looks more amused than worried about whatever 'problem' Jun Pyo is causing.</p><p>"When do we not have a problem with Jun Pyo?" Yi Jeong asks, resetting the balls on the pool table now that Woo Bin is here to play a game. He'd been playing himself before.</p><p>"He thinks he's in love with 'laundry girl.' You know, the one who kicked him in the face?"</p><p>"What?" Yi Jeong can't help but laugh. He knows how impulsive Jun Pyo can be, but this is a step above his normal level of ridiculousness. "First he wants to destroy her, and now he wants to kiss her? If you ask me, his obsession with her is getting a little out of control."</p><p>"But you have to admit, that shit's funny. I kind of wanted to fist bump her when she smushed that ice cream in his face."</p><p>Yi Jeong cracks a smile at that but quickly sobers up again.</p><p>"Still, that just proves my point. This whole thing's getting out of hand. What does he think is going to happen? They're going to get married and live happily ever after?"</p><p>"Probably. You know how he gets stuff in his head."</p><p>Yi Jeong shakes his own head. He hangs his cue stick up and slouches against the wall.</p><p>"There's a reason for the social hierarchy, you know?" He gestures to an imaginary social chart in the air. "It's to warn people against doing something stupid, like trying to climb trees that are impossible to climb."</p><p>Woo Bin pops open a cold beer from their mini-fridge.</p><p>"You don't think 'laundry girl' can become a tree?"</p><p>"I don't think <em>what</em>? What does that mean?"</p><p>Woo Bin shrugs and takes a swig of his beer.</p><p>"Maybe Jun Pyo dates her, and her social status goes up." He jerks his beer upward, and a bit of it sloshes over the side. "They're both trees. Problem solved."</p><p>"No, no. It doesn't work that way," Yi Jeong argues. "His status would go down if he dated her."</p><p>"You think the <em>great</em> Jun Pyo's status is going to go down?" Woo Bin says 'great' in a mocking tone, but they both know their best friend has slightly more influence and prestige than them.</p><p>"What goes up must come down," Yi Jeong insists. "Laws of physics."</p><p>"And what about you?"</p><p>"What about me?"</p><p>"If you dated someone like Jan Di—a commoner even, let's say—you think your status would go down?"</p><p>Yi Jeong scoffs.</p><p>"You think my status would go down over a girl?"</p><p>"I don't know, bro. That's what you just said about Jun Pyo."</p><p>"Yeah, but Jun Pyo's already...<em>Jun Pyo</em>. I'd elevate a girl's status just by smiling at her." Yi Jeong adjusts his tie. "Lower status, my ass."</p><p>"In that case, let's bet on it," Woo Bin announces, grinning. He sets his beer down on the pool table.</p><p>"Bet on what?"</p><p>"I'll give you a month." Woo Bin places his hands on the edge of the table and leans forward. "Pick out any girl at Shinhwa—but it has to be someone unpopular—and date her for a few weeks. We'll see what happens. And then we can tell Jun Pyo what to do. Based on your experience."</p><p>"Experience?" Yi Jeong barks out a laugh. "You think my dating life is an experiment?"</p><p>"If you're too scared to do it, I will." Woo Bin rubs his hands together. "I wonder who will be the next victim of Prince Song's charm."</p><p>"All right, forget it, forget it. I'll do it. But there's no rule that says the girl can't be pretty, right?" He jabs a finger at Woo Bin. "I mean, I am allowed to date someone attractive?"</p><p>"Attractive, yes," Woo Bin says in English. "Models, no."</p><hr/><p>An hour later, Yi Jeong emerges from the lounge.</p><p>Great. What has his foolish pride gotten him into this time?</p><p>It's one thing to say that <em>yes</em>, theoretically, he can transform <em>anyone</em> into the belle of the ball with his Prince Charming act.</p><p>It's another thing to willingly attempt such a futile endeavor.</p><p>In the end, what's the point?</p><p>The poor girl gets to play Cinderella for a fortnight, and then it's back to her mundane reality, left worse by the memory of a world she will never attain for herself.</p><p>And as for himself, he has much better things to do than play babysitter and knight in shining armor to some uneducated socialite wanna-be.</p><p>He needs to get some fresh air, clear his—</p><p>The door to the next hallway bangs into something hard as he opens it, and when he peers around the other side of it, there's a girl clutching her head and muttering 'ow.'</p><p>"Oh, sorry."</p><p>He takes in the Shinhwa uniform, then the knockoff handbag on her shoulder and the shoes that look like they've seen better days.</p><p>Obviously, she's a student at Shinhwa, but she must be one of the scholarship kids. One of the few students whose parents' employers pay for them to attend. It's all part of the Witch's latest scheme to reinvent her public image.</p><p>"Yah, watch where you're—" She stops shouting when she notices who he is.</p><p>Ah. Now she'll probably grovel.</p><p>No?</p><p>She's scowling instead.</p><p>"What are you staring at?" she demands, rubbing her head—rubbing the spot where the door hit her, he guesses.</p><p>"Sorry, I...didn't see you there."</p><p>The girl straightens up and tucks her hair behind her ear.</p><p>She has a pretty face, but her hair is an absolute mess. Like she just ran a mile in gym class.</p><p>He wouldn't be caught dead in public with hair like that.</p><p>Still, with a little bit of makeup and a cut and curl, she'll look all right. Better than all right.</p><p>Yes. She'll do. A perfect candidate.</p><p>Or perhaps he simply doesn't want to waste time looking for anyone else.</p><p>He gives her a million dollar smile.</p><p>"To apologize for hitting you with the door, should I buy you a coffee?"</p><p>"Oh, that's not...n-necessary. Sorry for yelling."</p><p>"I insist. I'm So Yi Jeong," he introduces himself. Unnecessarily, of course.</p><p>She should know who he is.</p><p>"Oh, yes. I know." She gives him a hesitant bow of greeting. "I'm Chu Ga Eul."</p><p>"So, shall we?" He extends an arm in the direction he was going. Namely, that of the parking lot.</p><p>"Right now?"</p><p>Yes, right now. He hasn't got all day to be chaperoning such a mess of a commoner. She hasn't even got the sense to be scared of him.</p><p>"Yes," he answers, short and to the point.</p><p>"Oh, it's just"—she adjusts her purse—"I'm supposed to be somewhere. Um, can we go another time? Maybe tomorrow?"</p><p>Really? The girl is turning down a date with <em>him</em>? To be <em>somewhere</em>?</p><p>"Tomorrow's fine," he replies, his face a mask of patience. She doesn't seem like someone he should push the issue with, nor does he want to stand there arguing with her.</p><p>"Okay. Can I meet you after classes let out?"</p><p>"Just wait at the front of the school. I'll pick you up."</p><p>"Oh." She glances to the side, and he almost thinks she might protest. But then she looks back at him and gives him a hesitant 'okay.'</p><p>"Okay. Then, I'll be going first," he announces. "See you tomorrow."</p><p>"Tomorrow," she echoes as he saunters down the remainder of the hallway.</p><p>Tomorrow.</p><p>Tomorrow, the game begins.</p><p>Oh, he will win this fucking bet and rub it all over Woo Bin's smug face.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hint for next week's episode: "How could I have seen you before and not know who you are now?"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the last chapter!</p><p>Your guesses were correct! This is based on A Cinderella Story (the original one with Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray). My cousins and I so wanted to be Hilary Duff when we were kids lol</p><p>One Sentence Synopsis of the Movie: This retelling of "Cinderella" is set in an American high school where the most popular guy in school is in a secret internet pen pal relationship with an ill-fortuned student and neither of them know the other's identity until they meet in person at a school Halloween dance.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="xcontrast">
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div><p>Of course So Yi Jeong would come into the porridge shop <em>today</em> when Ga Eul is stuck taking orders by herself. Jan Di called in sick earlier, and Master is too busy gawking at the celebrity news to be of any assistance.</p><p>Which leaves Ga Eul at the mercy of Yi Jeong's obliviousness.</p><p>When she showed up at his Shinhwa graduation party over a week ago, dressed in a gown borrowed from her friend Jae Kyung that she could never have afforded, she'd been too scared to tell him who she really was, so they'd addressed each other by their online usernames throughout the night.</p><p>He hadn't recognized her then, but she had been wearing a mask—it was a costume party—and it's not like he should have expected to see the porridge shop girl there. The one who's been serving him and his three buddies—the illustrious F4—since the start of the school year.</p><p>Apparently, this particular porridge shop is a favorite of one of their grandfathers.</p><p>To be fair, she hadn't expected her online crush—they'd met anonymously in a ceramic arts forum and had been messaging each other for several months—to be not only one of the most famous potters in Korea but also one of the wealthiest chaebols. When they'd discovered they were the same age, she'd expected him to be a normal high school student like her who happened to enjoy making pottery in his spare time.</p><p>But <em>no</em>.</p><p>Her online admirer is So Yi Jeong of the Woo Sung Museum.</p><p>And now he's sitting in her restaurant, craning his head in her direction because in her panic she has yet to ask him for his order. Or address him at all, for that matter.</p><p>Gathering her courage, she walks over to his table. She wonders if he'll look at her any differently today, if something about her will strike him as familiar—well, not in that he's seen her dozens of times inside this shop but in that he's seen her <em>somewhere else</em>, quite recently.</p><p>He doesn't seem to notice anything amiss but smiles—grimaces, more like—and asks for a coffee.</p><p>He looks tired.</p><p>And today he's alone. He's never alone but always surrounded by either his friends or, if the news outlets are to be believed, his fangirls.</p><p>Before she can leave to grab his coffee, he says, "Hey, can I ask you something?"</p><p>"Sure."</p><p>Ga Eul hopes he doesn't ask her about the new menu items because she hasn't had a chance to look over those yet.</p><p>"Do you believe in soulmates?"</p><p>The question momentarily stuns Ga Eul, namely because she knows for a fact Yi Jeong does <em>not</em> believe in soulmates. They'd had a heated discussion about the subject one night until 2 A.M.</p><p>She must look confused because Yi Jeong elaborates, "Like, have you ever met someone you could just totally be yourself with? You know, in a way you can't be with other people?"</p><p>Ga Eul mentally flails around, trying to remember the articulate argument she'd presented on the subject during their debate.</p><p>"You mean," she begins hesitantly, "like with other people, you have to sort of...wear a mask...based on what they expect you to be?"</p><p>"Yes, exactly." He nods enthusiastically.</p><p>"But, with this person, you don't have to pretend anything. You can drop the act. Because they just <em>get </em>you."</p><p>"Yeah, that's it. That's exactly it. So have you ever...do you know anyone like that?" He seems almost desperate for her to say <em>yes</em>, to confirm his suspicion that there are special people like that in this world.</p><p>And Ga Eul realizes he must have been lonely for a long time.</p><p>"Yeah...I do," she answers, smiling.</p><p>He smiles back at her then—not in the vague way that he smiles at everyone but in a direct manner that says the smile is just for her—and, emboldened, she says, more firmly, "Yi Jeong Sunbae."</p><p>Yi Jeong's looking straight into her eyes, and she feels the pull of them the same way she'd felt their connection the other night, as something pulsing and magnetic and <em>real</em>.</p><p>"Sunbae, I'm—"</p><p>"Yo, yo, yo, what's up, my bro?" Song Woo Bin enters the porridge shop in his usual swaggering manner.</p><p>
        <em>I'm your soulmate.</em>
      </p><p>Yi Jeong holds up a hand and gestures for his friend to sit down.</p><p>"Sorry, what were you saying?" he asks.</p><p>"Um, nothing. N-nothing. I'll get that coffee for you."</p><p>Woo Bin plops into the seat opposite Yi Jeong, and, nodding to her dismissively, Yi Jeong turns his attention to his friend, his mask back in place.</p><p>She fetches Yi Jeong's coffee. Woo Bin orders a bowl of porridge, and she fetches that too.</p><p>Her mask is back in place as well. That of the helpful but unobtrusive porridge girl.</p><p>Perhaps it is little wonder he didn't recognize her when she can make herself so invisible.</p><p>She didn't feel invisible the night of the party, though; for the first time in her life, she felt just a little bit important.</p><p>He did say, in a message that's been sitting in her inbox for a week, that he wants to see her again.</p><p>And she's pretty sure the 'soulmate' he was referring to is her.</p><p>Maybe tonight she will be brave.</p><p>Maybe she will write him back and reveal her secret.</p><p>Maybe.</p></div></div></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The chapter is based off of this specific scene in the movie, in case you are wondering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2WbgKI04Q&amp;ab_channel=TessCarvelli</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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